Laboratory Mistakes and Medical Malpractice Claims (Part A)

Millions of people in the United States hold physicians and medical facilities in high esteem, and hope that when it comes to treating their medical condition, the utmost care is provided. However, at the same time, each year many patients sustain serious injuries as the result of some form of laboratory mistake. These kinds of laboratory mistakes can be seen across a wide spectrum of pathology-related and radiology tests.

In a pathology laboratory, numerous tests are conducted in any given day. These may range from examination of biopsies, to blood samples or tissue specimens. Likewise, in a radiology lab, there may be many kinds of scans performed and various factors that can cause a medical lab result to be inaccurate.

Some of the common reasons for inaccuracies in medical lab results include:

problems with the specimen (incorrectly drawn);

biopsy didn’t extract the correct tumor cells;

patients’sample was not labeled properly resulting in a mix-up;

mishandled specimen, blood samples, etc;

identification errors (such as incorrect computer inputs); and

misinterpreted results.

Laboratory mistakes can lead to serious harm or even death in extreme cases. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a laboratory mistake, a Chicago medical malpractice attorney can talk to you about your options for legal recourse.

Laboratory Mistakes and Chicago Medical Malpractice Claims

The results you receive after you’ve undergone a medical test have passed through many channels before they get back to you. A medical test is typically performed in your doctor’s officer or at a medical facility, and then the sample/specimen is sent to the lab for testing.

In the lab, it is examined and analyzed by a medical professional (or a group of medical experts). They interpret the sample and return their feedback to your physician and he or she makes the final diagnosis.

While the process appears systematic and professional, medical testing is still prone to errors.

In fact, anything could go wrong at any point throughout the process, the result being a laboratory mistake that results in your injury. In such a case, you may choose to talk to a Chicago medical malpractice attorney about your options for filing a Chicago medical malpractice claim,